Confusion prevails as contradictory reports are emanating from different quarters over the state of things in Balika Niketan which saw five inmates escape under distressing circumstances on the night of December 16.
Things are really perplexing, say the observers. Whereas the State social Selfare Minister Yashpal Arya admitted that harassment had made the girls to flee the shelter home the state social welfare director Yogendra Yadav said that he was not informed of any harassment when he talked to the girls. Meanwhile, the chairperson Uttarakhand Commission for Protection of Child Rights (UCPCR )Yogendra Khanduri said that things were very bad in the shelter home for the distressed girls and the visit of a member UCPCR Sharda Tripathi a day after the escape confirmed things.
Khanduri further said that he has written to the additional chief secretary, social welfare, Ranveer Singh, stating that the commission has taken a serious note of the escape of the five inmates who had jumped the wall of the home, exposing the lax security there. He also asked the additional secretary to submit a detailed report on how and why the girls escaped from the shelter home.
Pressure building up with the department facing flak for its being on the denial mode, Yadav changed his stance a bit and said that there might be some lapses behind the escape of the girls while clinging on to his earlier stance of no harassment.
Besides, he formed a three- member committee to inquire into the matter. And only, everything clear will come out.